<p>Both the teams played at a lively pace as the ball moved to and fro, but were unable to break the deadlock.<br /><br />Dempo, who had a better share of exchanges, did not use the flanks well as they built their moves from the middle which helped the rival to close the gaps.<br /><br />Defenders Mahesh Gawli and Sameer Naik made timely tackles to stall any attempts from East Bengal forwards Baichung Bhutia and Yakubu. <br /><br />East Bengal, however, played a waiting game and relied more on counter attacks. The visitors were presented with their first chance in the ninth minute, but Bhutia’s header off a Nirmal Chetri lob missed the target narrowly.<br /><br />Few minutes later, Yakubu forced Dempo goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani to make a diving save.<br /><br />Dempo created a couple of scoring opportunities but squandered all of them.<br />Dempo continued to enjoy ball possession during the second half, and nearly scored through man-of-the-match Peter Carvalho but his whose rasping shot from 30 yards was punched over by East Bengal custodian Mondal.<br /><br />Both the teams pressed hard in the last quarter of the match and East Bengal nearly scored through Abel Hammond, but were unlucky.<br /><br />With this draw, Dempo continued to stay at the top of the table with 23 points from 12 matches and are three points clear of second-placed Mohun Bagan, who lost to Salgaocar yesterday.<br /><br />Meanwhile, Viva Kerala defeated Air India 2-1 with goals from VK Shibinlal (22nd) and MP Sakeer (87th). ND Opara (59th) scored the lone goal for the Airmen. </p>
<p>Both the teams played at a lively pace as the ball moved to and fro, but were unable to break the deadlock.<br /><br />Dempo, who had a better share of exchanges, did not use the flanks well as they built their moves from the middle which helped the rival to close the gaps.<br /><br />Defenders Mahesh Gawli and Sameer Naik made timely tackles to stall any attempts from East Bengal forwards Baichung Bhutia and Yakubu. <br /><br />East Bengal, however, played a waiting game and relied more on counter attacks. The visitors were presented with their first chance in the ninth minute, but Bhutia’s header off a Nirmal Chetri lob missed the target narrowly.<br /><br />Few minutes later, Yakubu forced Dempo goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani to make a diving save.<br /><br />Dempo created a couple of scoring opportunities but squandered all of them.<br />Dempo continued to enjoy ball possession during the second half, and nearly scored through man-of-the-match Peter Carvalho but his whose rasping shot from 30 yards was punched over by East Bengal custodian Mondal.<br /><br />Both the teams pressed hard in the last quarter of the match and East Bengal nearly scored through Abel Hammond, but were unlucky.<br /><br />With this draw, Dempo continued to stay at the top of the table with 23 points from 12 matches and are three points clear of second-placed Mohun Bagan, who lost to Salgaocar yesterday.<br /><br />Meanwhile, Viva Kerala defeated Air India 2-1 with goals from VK Shibinlal (22nd) and MP Sakeer (87th). ND Opara (59th) scored the lone goal for the Airmen. </p>